Today was the Twin Cities Championships, and I decided to use my new toy which Molly gave me for Christmas … a GoPro Hero Digital Camera (5 megapixel with wide angle lens). If you’ve every wondered what it is like to race in a cross-country ski race, this is your chance … for I am now SkiCam Man!

For detailed information about my SkiCam including more photos and videos, please link to the MinnSki SkiCam Man section of NorthstarNerd.Org. MinnSki includes other services such as Garmin measured ski trails, a LinkedIn Group and much more.

Here are some of the basics about my SkiCam (and photo links):

• I use the GoPro Hero (5 megapixel digital camera with a wide angle lens)
• My add-on equipment is a head and chest mount
• Lithium batteries (needed for cold temperatures)

I’ve found that neither mount restricts my range of motion. In fact,
in the recent Twin Cities Championships cross-country ski race I even
forgot I had the camera on my head! Most of my initial tests have been
with the camera pointing forward. For my next race, I’ll point the head
mount behind me … so one can see the faces of each skier! In
addition, I use Google Picasa for minor photo editing.

• Northstar Lake (Suomi Hills in northern Minnesota near Marcell)
• Twin Cities Championships (St. Paul, Minnesota)

The GoPro Camera has four basic options:

• One photo taken automatically every 2 seconds
• One photo taken automatically every 5 seconds
• Three photos taken quickly in succession at 2 or 5 second intervals
• Video mode (with microphone)

Please realize I am still in the “testing” phase of learning how to
use my GoPro Camera effectively. My first two video efforts are linked
below:

• Video: Northstar Lake (Suomi Hills in northern Minnesota)
• Video: French Park (Plymouth, Minnesota)
  and
• Video: Greenbush Wipeout (not me!)

As you’ll see with the videos, I’m dealing with some stabilization
issues and the fact that my arms / poles come into view via the chest
mount mode. The two photos below show my basic setup. Click to view
full sized.

Here is a slideshow from today’s race:

Early this Fall I posted a short musical slideshow of the Suomi Hills Region in it's early Autumn beauty. However, my family does not restrict our northwoods visits to the warmer times of the year. We just spent three glorious Winter days at our cabin. You need to understand that in late December the only way to reach "Hoeg Hollow" (our cabin) is on foot. Heat is provided by a wood stove. Thus, when we arrived the temperature in our cabin was 15F. Water is provided by "yours truly" heading down to the lake with a manual ice auger to drill a hole through the ice! Our cabin is definitely off the grid!

Enjoy a few photos from the last few days spent cross-country skiing in the Suomi Hills Wilderness! This morning when I took the first two photos, the temperature was -5F. As the trails are sheltered from the wind, one is always warm! You may also want to watch this brief YouTube video of the bonfire we had out on the ice in the middle of the lake!

Click to expand any image to full size.

Vacation means free time, which in my case resulted in a new tutorial:

• Measuring Nordic Skiing Workouts Using the Garmin Forerunner

There are actually three viewing options:

• AVI Format
• PPT Source Format
• YouTube

The Powerpoint version will provide the highest quality images, but take the longest to load via the web.

Please note your workout data loads automatically into the SportTracks software via a USB cable provided with your Garmin Forerunner. Should you wish to measure your own cross-country skiing workouts, here is what you will need:

• Garmin Forerunner (I use the 305 model)
• SportTracks Software (free)

In addition, you may find this blog review of SportTracks and these additional screenshot tutorials useful. Here is one image from my Garmin using the SportTracks software (click to view full sized). Although my examples are oriented towards cross-country skiing, one
could measure running and cycling workouts in the same manner.

Please also visit my MinnSki Portal (cross-country skiing in Minnesota). You will find not only these tutorials, but many Garmin measured ski trails, a custom Google search engine which focuses upon cross-country skiing in Minnesota … and much, much more.

I've now rolled out the latest addition to MinnSki, Garmin measured cross-country ski trail distances. If you are a serious cross-country skier, please help me with this task. While the organizations which provide trail maps are to be commended, the distance measurements are approximate.

Although the grand opening for MinnSki is planned for early 2010, you'll already find these features focused upon Nordic skiing in Minnesota:

• Garmin Measured Ski Trail Distances
• Google Custom Cross-Country Ski Search Engine
• MinnSki Twitter List

Finally, remember the DNS is active. Just remember http://www.MinnSki.org (or com) and you can always access our content.

If only Tiger Woods was a Lutheran, he would not have any problems! Enjoy listening to this short excerpt from this weekend's Prairie Home Companion. The Northstar Nerd is from northern Minnesota … and well … ve Minnesota Lutherans could have taught Tiger a few things … ya know for sure!

If you want to learn more about how to speak and act Lutheran, you need to get Garrison Keillor's latest book, Life Among the Lutherans … you betcha!